Life Event Dimensions of Loss, Humiliation, Entrapment, and Danger in the Prediction of Onsets of Major Depression and Generalized Anxiety

Abstract

In addition to loss, humiliating events that directly devalue an individual in a core role were strongly linked to risk for depressive episodes. Event dimensions and categories that predispose to pure MD vs pure GAS episodes can be distinguished with moderate specificity. The event dimensions that preceded mixed MD-GAS episodes were largely the sum of those that preceded pure MD and pure GAS episodes.

Economic stress in childhood and adulthood, and poor psychological health: Three life course hypotheses

“…The critical period hypothesis was not confirmed in this study, because both childhood and adulthood economic stress were significantly and consistently associated with poor psychological health when entered and analyzed simultaneously in the same crude, age adjusted and multiple adjusted logistic regression models. This result seems to be in conformity with previous literature which suggests that the importance of adverse childhood conditions for adult psychological health problems does not rule out the 13 complementary importance of current social and economic circumstances and other adversities in adulthood (Kendler et al, 2003;Nugent et al, 2011). In fact, the results suggest that both childhood and adulthood are sensitive periods for the association between economic stress and poor psychological health, because in contrast to the concept "critical period" the concept "sensitive period" does not exclude the possibility of two or more sensitive periods which each entail heightened sensitivity in terms of increased importance of the association between exposure (economic stress) and disease (poor psychological health) (Ben-Schlomo and Kuh, 2002).…”

“…Such childhood stressors include physical, sexual, emotional and verbal abuse, neglect, social deprivation, household dysfunctions including violence and witnessing violence, poverty, parental separation, parental death or illness, disaster, substance abuse and criminal activity (Brown et al, 2009). Recent studies suggest a substantially increased risk of internalizing depressive and anxiety disorders into adulthood following early life stress in childhood (Kendler et al, 2003;Nugent et al, 2011). Childhood sexual or physical abuse was shown to be associated with increased risk of symptoms of depression and anxiety, addiction, psychiatric admissions and suicide attempts (McCauley et al, 1997).…”

Mouse chronic social stress increases blood and brain kynurenine pathway activity and fear behaviour: Both effects are reversed by inhibition of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase

“…In various psychiatric disorders, psychosocial stress is a major aetiological factor and excessive fear is a major psychopathology (Cuthbert and Insel, 2013;Disner et al, 2011;Kendler et al, 2003;Kessler, 1997). Mouse CSD resulted in excessive fear learning and memory of an aversive CS-US association, indicating that psychosocial stress induced generalized hyper-reactivity to aversion.…”

The moderation by the serotonin transporter gene of environmental adversity in the aetiology of mental illness: review and methodological analysis

“…126,127 It has been established that stressful life events (SLE) have a causal role in the genesis of depression, 128 their depressogenic effect is variable and depends on the level of 'contextual threat', 126 they are closely related in time to the onset of depression 129,130 and have stronger effect on first onset of depression than on recurrences. 61 The effect of SLE is not specific to depression as they are also associated with the onset of anxiety disorders, 131 substance abuse, 132 eating disorders 133 and psychosis. 134 Assessment of SLE The assessment of SLE is almost always retrospective and it is crucial to minimise recall bias, distortions and inaccuracies.…”